Chioma Umeha

By CHIOMA UMEHA The Pharmaceutical Association of Nigeria (PSN) recently launched the PSN Foundation and inaugurated its Board of Trustees in Abuja, to support research, development and tackle growing challenges in the country’s healthcare delivery system. Speaking at the inauguration, Prof. Isaac Adewole, Minister of Health, said that such new partnership like PSN Foundation will help in achieving optimum health, especially for the vulnerable ones within the society. Adewole,who bemoaned the disease burden in the country, identified maternal and infant mortality, low uptake of contraceptive, Tuberculosis diagnosis, immunisation as some of the challenges in the health sector. The Minister explained that without collaboration with non-governmental organisation (NGOs) among other stakeholders, no government can solely address all existing disease burden. “One of the purposes of setting up this foundation that strike me most is to support and collaborate

By CHIOMA UMEHA The birth of Kehinde Yusuf, an eight-year-old boy with hydrocephalus ailment to the family of Mr. and Mrs. Isiaka Yusuf on September 19, 2009 was celebrated with pomp and pageantry. He was born a normal child like his twin brother, but a sickness that took Kehinde Yusuf to the hospital where he was infused with drips via his head, saw him coming down with a swollen head. Visibly distressed, his father has been moving from one hospital to the other seeking for his son’s full recovery sent a SOS message through INDEPENDENT to Nigerians for financial assistance. He narrates his ordeal: “I am Isiaka Yusuf, 52, a recharge card seller while my wife is an auxiliary nurse. My eight-year-old child, Kehinde Abdul-Raheem Yusuf has been receiving treatment at the University College Hospital (UCH) Ibadan since June 2011 for hydrocephalus ailment. “He and his twin brother, Taiwo, were born normal but six months after being born on September 19, 2009 at Iseyin

By Chioma Umeha “l am blessed with two children, after 19 years of fruitless marriage and   undergoing multiple IVF cycle failures. At that time my wife was close to 50 before we had our first children – a set of twins, comprising a boy and girl. Actually if you see my son, Seun,   he looks like me. We are like identical brothers. By November, he will be eight.” These were the words of visibly elated Adejare Akiolu, a Quantity Surveyor, in Lagos, who told INDEPENDENT that he is now enjoying a new lease of marital life after his travails with infertility ended. Akinolu said; “I got married to my heartthrob, Folake, an Educationist, in 1997. We tried to complete our family for about two years before deciding to seek medical advice. We had no inkling of any challenge in achieving pregnancy like many other newly wedded.   We thought   all was well and believed that conception will normally take place. This was because my wife did not have any history suggestive of pelvic

By CHIOMA UMEHA There’s no test to definitively diagnose PCOS. Your doctor is likely to start with a discussion of your medical history, including your menstrual periods and weight changes. A physical exam will include checking for signs of excess hair growth, insulin resistance and acne. Your doctor might then recommend: •A pelvic exam. The doctor visually and manually inspects your reproductive organs for masses, growths or other abnormalities. • Blood tests. Your blood may be analyzed to measure hormone levels. This testing can exclude possible causes of menstrual abnormalities or androgen excess that mimics PCOS. You might have additional blood testing to measure glucose tolerance and fasting cholesterol and triglyceride levels. • An ultrasound. Your doctor checks the appearance of your ovaries and the thickness of the lining of your uterus. A wandlike device (transducer) is placed in your vagina (transvaginal ultrasound). The transducer emits sound waves that

Ahmed Yakasai, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN) is a veteran practitioner with over three decades of experience. Yakasai who is a former Chairman of PSN Kano State Branch, first National Deputy President of PSN and a two-time past Commissioner in Kano State, in this interview with CHIOMA UMEHA , shares perspectives on pharmacy and health management issues. Excerpts: Nigeria has celebrated 57th years anniversary of independence. What are the challenges of the health sector? What is the way forward? Nigeria continues to contend with a plethora of challenges not necessarily caused by this incumbent administration. Among numerous challenges, the following stand out: poor funding, delayed and unlawful appointments in regulatory agencies, poor composition structures in the health sector including, lopsided appointments in Federal Health Institutions (FHIs) as well as poor attitude to research and development. If we restrict ourselves to the highlighted,

By CHIOMA UMEHA The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on Thursday adopted a Strategic Framework for Strengthening National Child Protection Systems to prevent and respond to violence, abuse and exploitation against children in West Africa. A statement signed by Geoffrey Njoku, Communication Specialist, United Nations For Children Fund (UNICEF) which was made available to INDEPENDENT said that   the decision   which will have positive implications for millions of children in West Africa was taken at the ECOWAS First Ladies’ Forum in Niamey, from October 2 to 5 2017. Based on the new framework Ministers responsible for the care and protection of children across the 15 Member States of ECOWAS agreed to take concrete measures to protect children from every form of violence, abuse and exploitation on a wide range of issues. In doing so they are committing to concrete measures to protect children from the most damaging forms of abuse, by focusing on five

L-R: Pharm. Elijah Mohammed, Registrar, Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN); Pharm. Ahmed Yakasai, President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria (PSN); Prince Julius Adelusi-Adeluyi President, Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy and Calixthus Okoruwa, Chief Executive Officer, XLR8, at the investiture of new fellows of the Nigeria Academy of Pharmacy which held at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel, Lagos. •Inducts Six New Fellows By CHIOMA UMEHA To tackle inadequate funding, lack of constant power supply and non- availability of reagents which have been identified as Fellows2challenges for Research and Development (R&D) in Nigeria, the Federal Government has been tasked to increase its commitment in the area. Specifically, Professor Isa Marte Hussaini, a world-renowned cancer researcher and professor of pharmacology at the University of Maiduguri has called for greater commitment on the part of the government to the funding of research in the country. Profes